System and method for reducing excess capacity for restaurants and other industries during off-peak or other times

ABSTRACT

A system and method for reducing excess capacity for restaurants and other industries during off-peak hours is provided. Customers or potential customers may bid on gift certificates redeemable at restaurants during a predetermined time. Users may register with the system and provide identification and demographic information which may be used by restaurants for targeted marketing strategies, promotions, and special offers. The system may include a registration module, an auction module, a restaurant guide module, a restaurant manager module, rewards and referral center module, restaurant reservation module, and advertisement displays.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.09/580,546, filed May 30, 2000, entitled “System and Method for ReducingExcess Capacity for Restaurants and Other Industries During Off-Peak orOther Times”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser.No. 09/461,336, filed Dec. 15, 1999, entitled “System and Method forReducing Excess Capacity for Restaurants and Other Industries duringOff-Peak or Other Times.”

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to systems and methods for reducing excesscapacity for restaurants and other industries during off-peak and othertimes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Among the many challenges that restaurants face are the challenges ofreducing excess capacity during off-peak times and the general lack ofcustomer level information. Restaurants typically have a fixed number ofseats. During certain periods there is greater demand for those seatsthan others. At some times there are people waiting to get seated (forexample, on weekend evenings during dinnertime) and at other times thereare unused seats (for example, 4-7 p.m. during the week). Typicallyunused seats translate to lost sales for a restaurant.

Many restaurants do not have detailed information about their customers.This lack of information is a lost opportunity. Typically, restaurantsadvertise through mass market media (TV, radio, newspapers, etc.).However, this is not the most efficient way to advertise.

These and other drawbacks and challenges face the restaurant industry.Similar problems are faced by other industries that have excess capacityissues.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to overcome these and other drawbacks andchallenges facing the restaurant and other industries.

Another object of the invention is to provide a website that enables arestaurant to offer (e.g., auction) gift certificates usable during apredetermined period of time (for example, corresponding to a knownoff-peak period) to enable customers or potential customers to obtain(e.g., bid on) these certificates. According to one embodiment, aminimum price is set for a certificate having a predetermined face valueand it is awarded to the highest bidder.

According to another aspect of the invention, a user must register withthe website and provide certain identification and demographicinformation during a registration process before being able to obtain acertificate. This enables restaurants to obtain more information aboutcustomers or potential customers who are likely to be influenced bymarketing campaigns.

According to other features of the invention, the website may furthercomprise an interactive restaurant guide, a recipe center, achat/message board, a gifts center, and an award and referral center.Other features and functions may also be included.

According to one embodiment, the web site enables a user to participatein an auction for one or more gift certificates or merchandise. Tofacilitate the ability of a user to find an auction of interest, varioussearch tools may be provided. For example, a user may be able to searchfor auctions for a particular restaurant, for a desired cuisine in adesired city, by zip code or other geographic area, or other searchparameters. Additionally, or alternatively, the web site may include alisting of types of cuisine, cities, etc., that a user may select (e.g.,by clicking on an icon) to view a listing of auctions relevant to thatuser. Thus, with these or other tools, a user may browse and select anauction of interest and then participate in one or more desiredauctions.

According to one aspect of the invention, auctions may be arranged invarious ways. For example, there may be a featured auction area thathighlights certain auctions. Various organizational techniques can beused for listing and displaying auctions.

Typically, an auction display will include the name of the restaurant, adescription of the certificate being auctioned (for example, promotionalmaterial regarding the restaurant or a specific feature of therestaurant), the time period for which the certificate is valid (e.g.,Monday only, Monday-Thursday, Monday-Thursday 4-7 p.m., etc.), the valueof the certificate (for example, $50.00), any minimum bid, the status ofthe auction, and other desired information. For example, the status mayinclude the current bid and the time left to bid. Multiple certificatesmay be auctioned with the same or similar parameters. Also, a user mayobtain additional information relating to an auction of interest.

According to another aspect of the invention, a comprehensiveinteractive restaurant guide is provided. Users may browse by area,cuisine or other parameters when looking for a place to eat. Therestaurant guide listings may offer a brief description of restaurants,a community rating (described below), the number and details of currentauctions, and other pertinent information.

Preferably, the auction system may be set up with affiliate members, forexample, restaurants. According to one embodiment, only affiliate memberrestaurants are listed in the restaurant guide. According to anotherembodiment, a broader range of restaurants (or other establishments) maybe included.

For example, the guide listing may include the current number ofauctions, the name of the restaurant, address, phone number and otherinformation about the restaurant, a description of the restaurant foodand other characteristics, and a community rating (such as a star systemand/or relative cost index). If a listed restaurant has its own website, a hyper-link between the restaurant listing and that restaurant'sweb site may also be provided. If the restaurant is part of a chain orrelated organizations, the link may be to the chain's home page or oneof the related organization's home page.

Alternatively, or in addition thereto, each restaurant in the guide mayhave a link to a detailed page on the restaurant auction web sitedescribed herein. By clicking on the restaurant or the link, a user mayread about the restaurant and contribute to restaurant ratings andreviews, based on their own experiences with the restaurant. They canalso check for other detailed information such as parking availability,payment types accepted, handicap accessibility, hours of operation,reservation information, menu information, etc. By enabling users tocontribute restaurant ratings and reviews, the rating system becomesinteractive and adds significant value.

By maintaining a listing of individuals who provide rating and reviewsand tracking demographic profile information based on the user, adatabase may be created to enable the web site to suggest to users otherrestaurants they may like based on similarity of preferences with otherusers who have provided reviews.

To participate in an auction, the user may click on an auction icon froma restaurant listing or a restaurant detailed page. The user can bid ina variety of ways. For example, the user can monitor the bids andperiodically revise the bid the user is willing to make. Preferably, anyuser placing a bid first registers and provides payment information,demographics, contact information and other information that may bedesirable.

An auto bid feature, also referred to as proxy bidding, may be used toenable the user to submit a maximum bid. The system then bids for theuser in small increments (preferably specified by the user) startingwith the bid minimum.

According to another embodiment of the invention, if multiplecertificates are awarded from one auction, a Dutch auction technique maybe used so that the closing price is equal to the lowest winning bid.

As an enticement for users to provide demographic and other information,a personalized page feature may be used for each registered individual.For example, registered users may set up personalized auction lists,check on their rewards, access member support services and otherservices and features. For example, a “my auctions” portion of thepersonalized pages may enable the user to monitor his or her currentbids or create and browse through custom auction lists.

A “my rewards portion” may be provided to facilitate a loyalty oraffinity program for repeat users. This aspect of the invention mayenable points or other benefits to be accumulated by users. For example,in addition to providing points for users who participate in auctions,points or other credits may be provided to users who are responsible forhaving restaurants join the program or other users register with theprogram. Various awards and rewards based on points may be providedon-line or off-line.

The personalized page may also include a “my profile” section. Thissection enables the user to enter, review, and update personalinformation preferences and other information to enable customizedinformation to be obtained about and provided to the user. For example,targeted marketing techniques may be used to inform the user of auctionsor other promotions that may be of interest to the user. The targetedmarketing and promotions may be based on the user's specifiedpreferences. In addition, an on-line support feature may also beprovided.

Another portion of the web site includes a restaurant managementfeature. This feature enables participating restaurants to createauctions, manage auctions, and monitor the results of auctions. Thisportion of the web site may include various features such as a productfeature, a services feature, a partners' feature, and other features.For example, restaurants that have registered with the web site may viewcustomized web pages that provide access to their auction postings,customer information, certificate sales history and member support. Forexample, the auction postings feature may enable the restaurant tocreate new options, delete or modify existing options and track currentbids. A “my customers” portion may enable a user to view aggregate, orpermit specific data on customers, including demographic information,dining frequency and other user information. As detailed below, theseand other features may be incorporated into a data warehouse to enablemore sophisticated analysis and targeted marketing.

A promotion feature of the auction manger may be used to facilitatemarketing and promotion campaigns. For example, based on user profileinformation, and user address information (for example, e-mail) targetedmarketing campaigns may be effectively implemented.

A sales history portion of the auction manager may enable restaurants totrack sales and bids to date. For restaurants and restaurant chains,this information may be provided by days, weeks, months, store region,etc. An account feature of the auction manager enables restaurants toview their account status with the web site. For example, according toone business method, the web site operator may collect a fee for eachcertificate sold or each certificate posted. Various techniques forcollecting the fee may be implemented.

According to one embodiment, the restaurant is billed on-line oroff-line for each certificate successfully offered by the restaurant.According to another embodiment, the web site operator may chargesuccessful bidders directly, keep a service fee, and provide theremaining balance to the restaurant. Various other alternatives forbilling may also be provided.

According to another business method of the invention, the web siteoperator may assist the restaurant in targeted marketing campaigns. Asdiscussed above, one way in which this may be done is via email onuser's profile information, demographic information, and otherinformation about the user. The web site operator may charge a fee (forexample, $0.25 per email) for conducting the targeted campaign for aparticular restaurant or a restaurant chain.

The auction listing process may include several features to facilitateand simplify the process. For example, a registered restaurant orrestaurant chain may set up an auction that occurs at regularlyscheduled intervals until canceled. Alternatively, various restaurantspecific information may be stored and used in connection with eachauction posted, and only the terms to be varied need to be addressed bythe restaurant. For example, when a new auction is created, an itemdescription may be provided by the restaurant. A set of restrictions maythen be applied. The restrictions may specify when the certificate isvalid. For example, the restaurant can specify the dates, day, month,year for which the period begins and the day, month, year and hour thevalidity expires. The restaurant may also identify the retail value ofthe certificate or other benefit(s) to be auctioned. The restaurant maythen specify a starting bid amount, for example, at least one third ofthe retail value or other amount specified by the restaurant. Therestaurant may specify the quantity of certificates to be auctioned forthat particular auction. The restaurant may further specify the durationof the auction. For example, the auction may be opened for severalhours, several days or other time period.

During an auction set up, the restaurant may also specify a recurrenceof the auction. For example, the restaurant may select from daily,weekly, every two weeks, monthly or any other period, or may specifythat it is a one time auction only.

According to another aspect of the invention, an instant purchasefeature may be used. The instant purchase feature may enable arestaurant to specify a fixed dollar amount for which the user may buythe certificate without participating in the auction. For example, if a$50.00 certificate has a $20.00 minimum bid, an auction may proceed onthat basis. However, a restaurant may wish to also provide some $50.00certificate with an instant purchase feature of $35.00 so that any userwho wishes to purchase the certificate immediately for $35.00 may do sowithout waiting for the conclusion of an auction.

According to another business method of the invention, optional featuresmay be provided to generate premium fees for the web site operator.These optional features may enable a restaurant to increase theprominence of the display of its auction versus other auctions hosted bythe web site for a fee. For example, a restaurant may display abold-faced title to its auction for a fee. According to another feature,a particular auction may be highlighted within a particular category(for example, cuisine, city, etc.) According to another feature, certainauctions may be listed on the home page of the web site so that userssee these particular auctions immediately without having to searchthrough listings. Each of these features, or combination thereof, alongwith additional features may be used thereby generating additionalrevenue.

The process of providing the winning bidders with an auction certificateor other redemption techniques may be accomplished in a variety of ways.For example, according to one embodiment, electronic certificates may bedownloaded by or to the winner or emailed to the winner upon completionof the auction. The winner may then print the certificate and presentthe certificate to the restaurant and redeem it for value. Preferably,if this method is used, the certificate may include the relevantinformation including the dates of validity, any payment required, theauction winner's name, etc. After dining, the value of the diningcertificate is credited to the diner's bill. If the certificate is notpre-paid in a manner described above, the user may pay for thecertificate and any balance due at the same time upon completion of themeal.

According to another embodiment, upon successfully winning an auction,an electronic certificate may be sent to the restaurant and/or thewinner. If an electronic certificate is sent to the restaurant, the usermay simply inform the restaurant that there is a certificate for theuser and that amount may be credited automatically to the user's bill sothat the user does not need to have a printed certificate. Various otheroptions may be used.

If the certificates are paid for by the winner at the time of thecertificate redemption, a mechanism may be established to enable the website to receive an attendance report or other information to enable itto bill the restaurant for whatever service fee was agreed upon for theauction service.

Certificate sales may be monitored using a sales history option on theweb site. This information may be stored by restaurant, by chain, or byother features. The information in the sales history portion may includethe number of bidders, any associated time period, the number ofcertificates sold, the average closing price for each auction orauctions occurring at various times, days, weeks, etc., and the percentof the retail value for which the certificates were sold during aspecified period. This information may be presented in various formatsincluding tables, charts, etc.

In addition to increasing sales at restaurants or other establishmentsby reducing excess capacity, the present invention may provide usefulaggregated information to restaurants regarding its customers. Forexample, a current stats feature may be provided to enable a restaurantto examine aggregate data on all the users who have bid on its auctionsor bought one or more certificates. Restaurants may also create surveysto obtain custom information by premium data on competitors' customers.

Customers statistics provide insight to the customer's habits and diningpreferences, thereby suggesting ways to more effectively tailor futurepromotional campaigns. For example, without limitation, the customerstatistics may include gender, age, industry/occupation, annual income,zip code, distance from home to restaurant, frequency of dining out,number of bids placed (by restaurant or total), favorite way to learn apromotion (e.g., email, snailmail, telephone, TV ad, radio ad, print ad,on-line ad, or other ways), price sensitivity information (e.g., howmuch a person cares about getting a good deal when they eat).

The targeted marketing campaign may be facilitated through the web site.For example, a restaurant may buy access to email lists and add space onon-line notices to tailor their marketing to customers likely to beinterested in such promotions. The web site may include a promotionsmanagement module that enables restaurants to implement these and otherfeatures. For example, the promotions management feature may include asection to enable a restaurant to create an email promotion. This mayenable a restaurant to create a target campaign and send it to customersby email or other delivery mechanisms. The restaurant may create a webpromotion by buying premium space on the web site including selectedportions of the auctions and category home pages. Restaurants can alsocreate customized messages that enable the web site users to see thesemessages as they browse through the site.

Each restaurant's account information including current statement,statement archives, restaurant profiles and contact information may bemaintained by the site as well.

According to another aspect of the invention, the web site of thepresent invention and the promotion features may be linked in to arestaurant reservation system. In this way, more detailed informationmay be obtained about a restaurant's capacity, the effectiveness ofauctions, and historical trends can be discerned. Other benefits may beobtained as well. For example, on successfully winning an auction andbeing notified, a user may use the web site to request an on-linereservation.

According to another aspect of the invention, the system may offerincentives that may be obtained without participation in an auction.Users may be interested in using the incentive right away and may desirean instant incentive, instead of waiting for an auction to be completed.According to one embodiment, a user may submit one or more incentiverequests for selected restaurants along with certain dining parameters.These requests may be processed by or for the restaurants to determineif a dining incentive should be issued to the user. For example, via theweb-site, a user may select one or more restaurants from a list ofparticipating restaurants and enter various dining parameters. Eachselected restaurant may then determine whether or not to accept theincentive request, based on the user entered dining parameters and otherinformation. If the restaurant decides to accept the request, a diningincentive may be offered to the user. Restaurants may process eachincentive request on an individual or batch basis. Also, each restaurantmay create customized rules that are stored in the processing system ofthe present invention where these customized rules are applied to eachincentive request or a group of requests. By using restaurant'scustomized rules, the system may automatically decide whether to acceptor reject the incentive requests, determine incentives to offer, andperform other operations.

According to another aspect of the invention, incentives may be issuedby the system without a paper certificate. Customers may desire to avoidhaving a paper certificate or coupon that may get lost. Therefore, theincentive may be issued to the customer electronically. For example,according to one method, the incentive information may be stored with apayment processing system associated with the restaurant. For example,the customer may supply payment information in order to receive anincentive. When that payment information is input at the restaurant, theincentive is automatically retrieved due to the association with thepayment information. The incentive may then be automatically deductedfrom the amount to be charged. If the payment information is a creditcard number, the system may employ a fulfillment process that enables acustomer to pay the dining bill with a registered credit card (where thecredit card number is provided at the time the incentive request ismade). According to one embodiment, the credit card charge (which is thefull amount of the bill for the meal) is processed so that the incentiveamount is credited back to the user, a fee is paid to the web-siteoperator and the balance is paid to the restaurant. The customer maythen receive a confirmation message (e.g., via e-mail) informing thecustomer that the registered credit card has been credited by adiscounted percentage or amount agreed to by the customer. With thatmessage, the user may be queried about the dining experience to getspecific feedback. This eliminates the need to present a certificate andprovides other advantages.

Other object and advantages of the present invention will be apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the specificationherein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram providing an overview of a systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 a is an illustration of a registration module for a customeraccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 b is an illustration of a registration module for a restaurantaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 a is an illustration of an auction module according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 b is an illustration of a request module according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a graphical user interface for personalizedauction information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a restaurant guide module according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a restaurant manager module according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a rewards and referral module according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of an auction process according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an auction process according to anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a fulfillment process according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a processing system according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an example of an incentive generator accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an example of an adjusted maximum discount calculationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an example of a consumer profile matched to restaurant targetfactors according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an example of a base discount percentage calculationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an example of an adjusted discount percentage for competitorscalculation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an example of a minimum spend amount calculation according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is an example of an offer presentment according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 19 is an example of an alternate minimum spend amount calculationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

One embodiment of the present invention enables a restaurant (or otherentity) to offer (e.g., auction) gift certificates valid for apredetermined period of time so that customers or potential customersmay bid on these certificates. The predetermined period of time mayinclude off peak hours of restaurant attendance. For example, somerestaurants may have excess capacity on Monday-Thursday nights between 4p.m. and 7 p.m. This results in empty seats and lost revenue. Thepresent invention provides a creative and interactive system and methodfor auctioning or otherwise offering discount certificates or otherpromotions at restaurants where the time period of use may be set foroff peak hours, days, nights, or even weeks or months.

The present invention may include at least a registration module, anauction module, a request module, a restaurant guide module, arestaurant manager module, a rewards and referral center module, areservation system module, a feature auction display, an advertisementdisplay, and other service modules and displays.

The registration module enables potential customer participants to signup to receive restaurant information services and to participate inauctions or other offers for restaurant gift certificates andmerchandise at a price below the face value. The potential customer mayenter identification information, demographic information, restaurantpreferences, and other related information. The information is stored ina database and may be subsequently used by restaurants for targetedmarketing predicated on detailed customer information.

The registration module also enables potential restaurant participantsto post auctions for gift certificates and merchandise. Restaurants maytarget off-peak days, nights, and hours. Thus, capacity is increased andrevenue is enhanced. Registration with the present invention may alsoenable restaurants to post advertisements and receive valuable marketinginformation. The system of the present invention may aggregate allbidding data and provide restaurants with detailed information on theircustomers and their dining habits, making it easier to target meals,services, and promotions effectively. Restaurants may also participatein chat rooms and message boards to interact with their guests and reachpotential or lost customers.

The auction module enables customers to search for a particularrestaurant or browse through a category of restaurants and bid on giftcertificates or merchandise. The bids may be less than face value insome embodiments to entice users to make a bid on an off-peak restauranttime. The customer may place a bid and periodically update the bid.Alternatively, the customer may use an auto-bid option where a maximumamount is set by the customer and small increments are placedautomatically. The customer may also view a personalized auction listthat tracks information on a restaurant or restaurants of particularinterest to the customer. The personalized auction page may also monitorthe customer's rewards, customer's profile and targeted marketinginformation which may include promotions or special offers torestaurants of interest to the customer.

The request module enables customers to submit an incentive request forone or more selected restaurants. Dining parameters, such as minimumamount the customer is willing to spend, day of the week a customerwants to dine, specific date the customer wants to dine, time, number ofindividuals in the party, and other information may also be submitted.Based on the dining parameters and other information (e.g., user profileinformation), a decision may be made as to whether or not an incentiveshould be given to the customer. User profile information may includeinformation submitted by the user during registration, such asdemographic information, dining preferences, and other information. If arequest is accepted, the restaurant may provide a dining incentive, suchas a discount of a certain amount, valid during a specified time period.Restaurants may process each request on an individual basis. Also,restaurants may create customized rules that reside at a restaurantserver or on the processing system of the web-site, where thesecustomized rules are applied to each request to determine whether toaward an incentive and how much the incentive should be. Acceptedrequests may then be displayed to the customer for selection. Thecustomer may select the desired incentive and guarantee the incentive bysubmitting a credit card number or other payment method (e.g., travelerscheck, personal check, cashier's check, or store account) or confirminga previously registered credit card number. When the customer pays thecheck with that credit card number or other payment method, the creditcard charge is processed so that the customer receives a credit in theamount of the incentive.

The restaurant guide module enables customers and potential customers tolocate restaurants by cuisine, area, price range and othercharacteristics. A guide listing provides a description of therestaurant along with additional information, such as location, averageprice, reviews, cuisine, and directions. Customers may view reviews fromother diners describing recent dining experiences at a particularrestaurant. Also, customers may post reviews of their own diningexperiences. Customers may also view and participate in current auctionsfor gift certificates. Hyper-links to information related to arestaurant may also be provided, such as menus, reviews, and an officialrestaurant web-site. A recipe center and chat/message board are alsoavailable to establish communication between restaurants and customers,including current and potential customers. A gifts center may beavailable to enable customers to browse and purchase products affiliatedwith a particular restaurant or products that related to cooking anddining in general. For example, customers may purchase hats, mugs,recipe books, articles of clothing, such as shirts, sweatshirts,jackets, and other types of merchandise imprinted with a particularrestaurant. In another example, customers may purchase cooking tools,spices, and cook books that relate to cooking/dining in general and mayhave no affiliation with a particular restaurant.

A restaurant manager module enables a restaurant to create new auctions,delete existing auctions, modify existing auctions, track current bids,set schedules for the activation of one or more auctions, and create andupdate auction templates. In addition, restaurants may access customerinformation to view demographic and dining frequency information. Byusing this information, restaurants may create targeted advertisementsand promotions to customers and potential customers. Sales history isalso available to the restaurant. Targeted advertisements may be basedon past sales records. Account information regarding fees and paymentinformation are also available.

A rewards and referral module enables a customer to monitor and redeempoints and credits awarded to the customer by the present invention. Forexample, by providing email addresses of friends, business associates,family members, or acquaintances, a customer may receive monetary orother types of rewards.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an overview of a system 100 that provides auctionservices and restaurant information services according to an embodimentof the present invention. A plurality of users 102 and restaurants 104may access system 101 through the Internet or other communicationchannel. System 101 may contain various service modules and displaysincluding a registration module 110 which may include a module forcustomers 112 and a module for restaurants 114, an auction module 120, afeature auction display 122, a request module 125, a restaurant guidemodule 130, a restaurant manager module 140, a rewards and referralcenter module 150, a restaurant reservation system module 160, and anadvertisement display module 170. System 101 may also access databasescontaining various information regarding customers, restaurants andother pertinent information. For example, databases may include profilesof customers 180, profiles of restaurants 182, sales history records184, and marketing data 186.

Restaurant reservation system module 160 enables users to makereservations at a desired restaurant by providing information, such astime, number of people, seating preferences, etc. Feature auctiondisplay 122 may serve as a premium spot for restaurants to inform usersof current or upcoming auctions for dining certificates or othermerchandise. Advertisement display 170 features ads from participatingrestaurants or other merchants.

To obtain the services and benefits of the present invention, apotential customer may register with system 101, at registration module112. Previous customers may proceed directly to another module to beginuse of the system without re-registering multiple times. FIG. 2 aprovides an example of a registration page for a potential customerparticipant. Registration information may include identificationinformation module 210, demographic information module 220, restaurantpreference information module 230, and other information modules. Forexample, identification information may include the potential customer'sname, email address, zip code, and a username and password for access tothe processing system of the present invention. Demographic informationmay include profession, income, gender, and age. Restaurant preferenceinformation may include dining frequency, favorite restaurants, favoritetypes of foods, preferred price range, and preferred location ofrestaurants.

FIG. 2 b provides an example of a registration page for a potentialrestaurant participant. Registration information may include restaurantdescription module 250, meal description module 260, facilitiesdescription module 270, and other information modules. For example,registration information may include a brief restaurant description,contact person, type of cuisine, average meal price, address, phonenumber, fax number, email address, hours of operation, credit cardaccess, wheelchair access, parking, valet parking, party space,banquets, outdoor seating, live music, view, child friendly, smokingareas, and other information relating to the restaurant's attributes.

FIG. 3 a is an illustration of an auction module according to anembodiment of the present invention. Auction module 120 may contain asearch-for-auction module 310, an auction display module 320, a biddingmodule 330, and a personalized auction page module 340.

Search-for-auction module 310 may enable the user to locate an auctionor auctions by restaurant name through restaurant name module 312,cuisine type through cuisine type module 314, location including city,zip or geographic area, certificate days valid, and othercharacteristics. The module may also enable the user to enter specificsearch terms, at search term module 316. Alternatively, a listing ofcuisine, cities, etc., may be displayed so that a user may click on acategory to view a listing of auctions relevant to that listing, atlisting module 318.

An auction display module 320 may then display the auction or auctions.The name of the restaurant with a link to view the restaurant guide anda description of the certificate being auctioned including promotionalmaterial, time period, number of certificates, time left to bid, thevalue of the certificate, minimum bid, status of the auction and currentbids may be displayed. Promotional materials may include a slogan,advertisement, a graphic, or a logo relating to a restaurant.

After the bids have been processed, processing system 101 determines thewinner of a particular auction. The winner may then be posted throughwinner module 350. Losing bidders are also notified that the auctionthat the bidder bid on closed without being declared a winner. Inaddition, the losing bidder may be notified of other auctions thatcorrespond to one or more parameters of the auction on which the bidderunsuccessfully bid. Also, the winner may download the certificate oritem for redemption. Alternatively, the winner may request that thecertificate be sent to the restaurant where the winner may inform therestaurant of the certificate at time of redemption.

The user may participate in the bidding through bidding module 330. Theuser may enter the quantity of bids through quantity module 332, and abid amount through bid amount module 334. The user may bid in a varietyof different ways. For example, the user may monitor the bids andperiodically revise the bid to an amount the user is willing to pay.Alternatively, the user may select an auto-bid feature that allows theuser to submit a maximum bid amount and a bid increment amount where thebids are automatically incremented up to the maximum amount specified.If multiple certificates are awarded, a Dutch auction technique may beused so that the closing price is equal to the lowest winning bid.

The user may also select personalized auction page 340, as discussed infurther detail below.

FIG. 3 b is an illustration of a request module 125 according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. This request module may operate ona web server accessible over the Internet by users. This embodimentenables the user to input information sufficient to enable the system todetermine what incentives to make available to the user. For example, auser may submit one or more incentive requests for one or more selectedrestaurants where each selected restaurant may determine whether toaccept a user's request and provide a dining incentive. Various modulesmay be provided that interact with the users to obtain that information.These modules may include a select restaurant module 360 and a diningparameters module 370. Request module 125 may also contain an offer(s)display module 385, a credit/debit card module 390 and other modules.

Select restaurant(s) module 360 may be provided to interact with theuser to facilitate the user's selection of one or more restaurants orother dining facilities, either by name, type, category or location. Forexample, the user may input Bob's House of Beef, Steve's Chinese andJoe's Chili. Also, the user may input and select “all restaurants on KStreet in Washington D.C.” For example, the user may select threerestaurants from which to ask for an incentive, whereby the user willselect one depending on the amount of incentive these restaurants willoffer. The user may employ various search techniques to specify the oneor more restaurants to select. For example, the user may locate one ormore restaurants by restaurant name, cuisine type, ratings, expense,reviews, location, and other characteristics. The user may also searchby specify various terms. For example, the user may desire to select allrestaurants for which a description says “modern” and “unique”.Alternatively, the user may view a listing of restaurants and select oneor more restaurants from the listing. Essentially, select module 360 maycomprise any module that enables a user to select one or morerestaurants for which an incentive offer is requested.

The user may enter various dining parameters associated with the requestfor an incentive, at dining parameters module 370. For example, the usermay enter the date the user expects to dine, the time of day duringwhich the user would like to dine, and the number of people that will bein the party. In addition, the user may enter the number of adultsand/or number of children that will be in the party. The user may enterthe minimum amount the user is willing to spend, at each selectedrestaurant. The minimum amount the user is willing to spend may varywith each restaurant. For example, the user may enter a higher minimumamount for one restaurant (e.g., a more expensive restaurant) and alower minimum amount for another (e.g., a less expensive restaurant).Separate input dining parameters may be for each restaurant orrestaurant type selected by the user. Other information regarding theuser's prospective dining plan may also be entered.

An offer(s) display module 385 may be provided to process the selectedrestaurants and dining parameters to determine the incentive, if any,each restaurant is willing to provide, the amount, and other terms. Theincentive may be a discount in the form of a percentage off, a dollaramount, two-for-one specials, or other incentive.

Each request may be processed on an individual basis by or on behalf ofeach selected restaurant. For example, for each incentive request, therestaurant may determine whether to accept or reject the request. If therestaurant decides to offer an incentive to the user, the restaurant maydetermine the amount or type of incentive the restaurant is willing tooffer to that particular user based on various factors. For example, ifa particular user requests an incentive for a 5:00 pm Thursday nightdinner, the restaurant may offer this user a greater incentive becausethe request is for dinner during off-peak hours. However, if thisrequest is for a night that is booked by a large private party, therestaurant may not feel a need to offer a large incentive. Thus, eachincentive request is examined by the restaurant on an individual basis.

Restaurants may create rules to be applied to each request. These rulesmay be submitted to the processing system of the present invention ormay reside on a computer at the restaurant. This enables the restaurantsto have determinations made on an automated basis, rather than requiringthe restaurant to manually reject, accept, and determine discounts foreach individual request.

For example, restaurants may create rules based on user enteredvariables, internal variables or other information. User enteredvariables may include registration information submitted by the user(e.g., profile information), dining parameters, and other user enteredinformation. Internal variables may include new customer status, diningfrequency, beverage choice, competitive set, and other variables. Acompetitive set may include a list of the user's preferred restaurants(or restaurants that the user is currently requesting incentives from).Restaurants use competitive sets to evaluate for competitive pressuresin processing the incentive requests.

For example, the restaurant may want to target new customers. Therestaurant may submit a rule specifying that new customers are toreceive a discount of 35% off the minimum amount. Also, if therestaurant wants to discourage or encourage the attendance of children,the restaurant may specify a rule where users who indicate childrenattendees will receive a small or no incentive to discourage or arelatively larger incentive to encourage.

The restaurants may also specify a scaling function where the more theuser is willing to spend, the greater the discount. For example, if auser enters a minimum amount of $30, a 10% discount will be offered.Whereas, if a user enters a minimum amount of $150, a 20% discount willbe offered. The scaling may be based on total dollar amount or dollarsper person. Restaurants may also define rules to encourage users to dineat a different time. For example, if a user requests an incentive for7-9 pm, the restaurant may offer a more attractive incentive for 5-7 pm.Multi-unit restaurants may also define rules to encourage users from abusy location to a less busy one. For example, if a user requested anincentive for location A, the restaurant may offer a more attractiveincentive if the user is willing go to location B. Other rules andfactors may define the restaurants' preferences and goals. Restaurantdefined rules enable restaurants to target a specific audience or typeof customer.

Once the user has selected an offer displayed in the offer(s) displaymodule 385, the user may secure the savings offered by the selectedrestaurant with a credit/debit card (or other mode of securing payment)previously submitted or the user may submit a new credit/debit card atthis point. The user may dine at the selected restaurant and pay theentire amount of the bill with the registered credit/debit card. Afterthe charge is processed, the incentive amount will be credited back tothe user.

A personalized auction page module 340, as shown in FIG. 3 a, may beprovided. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a personalized auction pagewhich displays information according to the user's preferences. Apersonalized auction page may include a “my auctions” module 410, a “myrewards” module 420, a “my profile” module 430, a marketing module 440,and a member support services module 450.

The “my auctions” module 410 may enable the user to create an auctionlist at create auction list module 412 by specifying a certainrestaurant or restaurants of interest, particular characteristics ofrestaurants, type of cuisine, or other characteristics. The “my auction”module 410 may then display and monitor the current bids for thespecified restaurants of interest through a monitor current bids module414. Users may also browse through an auction list, at browse auctionlist module 416. The user may monitor and submit bids on giftcertificates useable at the user's preferred restaurants.

The “my rewards” module 420 may enable the user to monitor points,credits, and other awards attributed to the user through monitor myrewards module 422. For example, the user may be awarded points orcredits for signing up individuals with the present invention. Users mayalso receive awards and credits for signing up restaurants with theprocessing system. At any time, a user may redeem or cash in theaccumulated points and credits for gift certificates, cash or othertypes of awards or benefits through redeem my rewards module 424.

The “my profile” module 430 enables the user to modify and updatepersonal preferences and settings, at update preferences module 432. Auser may change targeted advertisement settings or restaurantpreferences. These settings may affect the type of information receivedby the user regarding promotions and special offers.

Marketing display 440 presents promotions and special offers fromrestaurants that are of particular interest to the user based on theuser's profile, preference settings, sales history, and otherpersonalized information.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a restaurant guide module 130 according toan embodiment of the present invention. The restaurant guide provides aquick and easy way to obtain information regarding possible places todine. Reviews and comments by recent customers, driving directions andother pertinent information are provided by this module. Restaurantguide module 130 may include a search module 510, a current auctionsdisplay module 520, a guide listings module 530, a recipe center module540, a gifts center module 545, and a chat/message board module 550.

Search module 510 enables a user to search for a restaurant orrestaurants by cuisine type through cuisine module 512, price rangethrough price range module 516, location through area module 514including zip code, city, or region, or other search parameters. Theresults of a search may be presented in guide listings module 520.

Guide listings module 520 may provide a description of a restaurant orrestaurants including an address, phone number, cuisine type, hours ofoperation, driving directions, a map, and other characteristics, atdescription module 522. The user may also view auctions associated withthis restaurant and current auctions that are in progress. A communityrating and review may also be presented to the user, which may include acost index, reviews posted by other users of the present inventiondescribing recent dining experiences, at community rating module 524.Information regarding parking, payment options, handicap services, etc.may also be available. Users may post a personal review of therestaurant. A hyper-link to the restaurant's official home-page may alsobe available along with links to menus and published reviews. In anotherembodiment, a hyper-link to a separate restaurant page presented by thepresent invention containing detailed information regarding therestaurant may also be made available.

Current auctions display module 530 displays all the auctions that arecurrently in progress. If an auction of interest is displayed, a usermay participate by placing a bid. A description of the restaurant, atcurrent auction description module 532, along with the specifics of theauction, community ratings and other relevant information may bepresented to the user, at current auction community rating module 534.

Recipe center module 540 may provide various recipes and cooking tipsfrom chefs of various restaurants. Alternatively, customers may be ableto purchase recipes or a compilation of recipes from a particularrestaurant or type of cuisine. This module may also serve as a referencefor cooking terminology, exotic and conventional spices, restaurantetiquette, and other topics relating to recipes and dining.

Gifts center module 545 may enable customers to browse and purchaseproducts that may be associated with a particular restaurant or productsassociated with restaurants in general. For example, a popular Mexicanrestaurant may provide hats, mugs, T-shirts, sweatshirts and other itemsimprinted with the restaurant's logo. The gifts center module 545 mayoffer products related to cooking or dining in general. For example,cooking products, such as salt & pepper grinders, spices, and cookingutensils may be available for purchase.

Chat/Message board module 550 may provide a forum for customers (orpotential customers) and restaurant managers, employees or chefs tocommunicate with each other. Restaurants may obtain valuable feedbackfrom customers regarding service, cuisine/menu selection, ambiance,particular employees of the restaurant (e.g., host, hostess, waiter,waitress) and other information. Also, customers may communicate withother customers of similar tastes in cuisine/restaurants and diningpreferences. This service may even serve as a suggestion box forrestaurants that value customer feedback.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of a restaurant manager module 140 accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. This module providesrestaurant participants with a plurality of services, including auctionpostings and targeted marketing strategies. Oftentimes, restaurantsadvertise to the public in general. This method of advertisement isineffective and too broad because specific interests and needs ofcustomers are not addressed. As a result, potential customers are lostand resources are wasted. By providing a method and system of obtainingaccurate and recent demographic, identification, and dining informationof customers, restaurants may target advertisements to meet the needs ofeach individual customer thereby attracting more new customers andkeeping the current ones. The present invention also providesrestaurants with information on the method of communication mostpreferred by customers. For example, some customers may prefer toreceive information via email as opposed to mail delivery. Ifadvertisements and promotions are specifically geared to a customer'spersonal interests, that customer is more likely to read and takeadvantage of the special offer. Otherwise, general advertisements areoften discarded.

For example, a customer may indicate on his profile that he preferspasta, chicken, and Italian cuisine, but is allergic to seafood.Targeted advertisements relating to Italian restaurants with specialemphasis on pasta dishes with chicken may be sent to this customer.However, advertisements relating to seafood may be avoided.

Restaurant manager module 140 may provide an auction postings module610, a “my customer” module 620, a promotion module 630, a sales historymodule 640, and an account module 650.

Auction postings module 610 enables the restaurant to create newauctions, delete existing auctions, and modify existing auctions, atcreate/delete/modify module 612. Also, current bids may be tracked andmonitored, at monitor auction module 614. The restaurant may create,delete and modify auctions through the web-site of the presentinvention, by fax, or phone service. Also, a schedule may be set by therestaurant wherein a specified number of gift certificates withspecified conditions may be made available for auction at a setschedule, at set schedule module 616. For example, ten gift certificatesfor a particular restaurant may be schedule to be auctioned off everyTuesday for a designated period of time. Restaurants may also storetemplates of gift certificates at this module for ease in completion andposting.

The “my customers” module 620 enables a restaurant to view aggregate orspecific data on customer demographics, dining frequency, and otherrelated information, at view data module 622. A restaurant may alsocreate a survey to be filled out by users of the present invention formore detailed information, at create survey module 624. Restaurants mayuse customer and dining information to create targeted advertisement toattract a particular customer or group of customers.

Promotion module 630 enables the restaurant to create highly targetedmarketing strategies. For example, this module provides the ability tocreate an email promotion, a web promotion, customized messages online,or other marketing techniques geared to meet the needs of potentialcustomers or current customers. Restaurants may also specify thelocation of advertisement for greater exposure on areas on the web-sitedesignated as premium space, which may include the home-page, frontmodule pages, etc. Font, size, graphics, color, animation, duration, andother features may be specified for optimal presentation ofadvertisement. For example, an advertisement may be displayed as thefeature auction display 122 on the home-page of the present invention.

Sales history module 640 enables the restaurant to track and monitorsales through the present invention, view bids-to-date, and processother biding information. This information may be organized by days,weeks, months, store region, and other parameters. A sales historyreport may also include contact information, biographical information,purchasing habit information, and dining preferences. In addition,targeted advertisement may be generated based on past sales information.

Account module 650 provides information regarding fees for eachcertificate sold or posted. Restaurants may check the status of theirbill for various services. For example, the processing system may chargea fee for use of advertisement space on certain premium space. Also, afee may be generated based on the number of certificates sold throughthe system. Payment by credit card, checking account, or other modes ofpayment may be made on this module.

Summary page module 660 may provide the restaurant with a reportoutlining the results of an auction for one or more items posted by therestaurant. Attendance report module 670 may allow the restaurant toindicate which winners redeemed the items at the restaurant. Theinformation gathered from these modules may be used for targetedmarketing and promotions.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of a rewards and referral module 150 accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. The user may monitor throughmonitor rewards module 710, and redeem points and/or credits awarded tothe user for referrals or other reasons through redeem rewards module720. The user may provide email addresses or other information ofindividuals who may be interested in receiving information regarding thepresent invention through refer friends module 730. For example, foreach individual that signs up with the present invention as a result ofa referral, the user is awarded points or credits. Also, a user mayreceive points for each restaurant that signs up with the presentinvention. When a sufficient amount of points and/or credits have beenaccumulated, the user may request redemption in cash, gift certificates,or other types of awards.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a flowchart of an auction process according to anembodiment of the present invention. A restaurant may post an auctionfor a dining certificate using the web-site of the present invention,fax, or phone, at step 810. A potential customer may enter the web-siteand search for a restaurant of interest by location, cuisine, restaurantname, meal type, certificate days valid, or other parameters. Thepotential customer may bid on a certificate of choice after credit cardregistration. When a desired restaurant is found, the potential customermay bid on the dining certificate for a fraction of the face value, atstep 820. When a winner is determined, the auction is closed at step830. Winners and losers may be notified by email, fax, phone or othermodes of communication. Also, restaurants may receive a summary pageoutlining the results of the auction by fax, email, phone or other modesof communication. The winner may dine at the restaurant and receive adiscount equal to the dining certificate for the bill, at step 840. Therestaurant may then report the customer's attendance in order to ensurecorrect billing and responsible bidding by customers, at step 850.

When posting an auction at step 810, restaurant may provide a variety ofinformation. This information may include an item description (diningcertificate or merchandise), restrictions (valid dates and times),retail value, other benefits, starting bid amount (for example, ⅓ of theretail value), quantity, duration of auction, instant purchase option,recurrence of auction (for example, daily, weekly, etc.), and optionalfeatures which may include increasing the prominence of the displaythrough font, bold face, highlight, graphics, and placement on home pageand other pages. An instant purchase option may enable a restaurant tospecify a fixed dollar amount for which the user may buy a certificatewithout participating in the auction. For example, a restaurant may wishto provide a specified quantity of $50.00 certificates with an expressfeature of $35.00 so that any user may purchase the certificateimmediately without participating in an auction.

Auction certificates may be provided to winners in a variety of ways.For example, electronic certificates may be downloaded by the winner oremailed to the winner at the close of the auction, after proper paymentat the closing price. The winner may present this certificate to therestaurant and have the amount credited to his or her bill after thedining experience. If the certificate is not pre-paid, the user may payfor the certificate and any balance due after dining at the restaurant.

An electronic certificate may be sent to the restaurant and/or thewinner. If an electronic certificate is sent to the restaurant, the usermay inform the restaurant of the certificate available to the user wherethe amount is credited automatically to the user's bill. In this case,the user does not need to possess the certificate when dining. After acustomer wins a bid, he or she may make a reservation at the restaurantwhere the certificate is valid, at restaurant reservation module 160.

Certificate sales may be monitored by sales history. The information mayinclude the number of bidders, number of certificates sold includingcharacteristics of the certificates, average closing price, the percentof the retail value for which the certificates were sold and otherrelevant information.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a flowchart of a request process according to anembodiment of the present invention. Users may submit one or moreincentive requests at one or more selected restaurants. Incentiverequests may further include various dining parameters. Restaurants, inresponse, may provide dining incentives to the user based on the user'sdining parameters, restaurant preferences, sales data, marketingstrategies, capacity, and other information. Restaurants may also decidenot to provide an incentive to the user and reject the request.

Restaurants may process each incentive request on an individual basis.Also, restaurants may create customized rules that reside at arestaurant server or in the processing system of the present inventionwhere these customized rules are applied to each incentive request.

To participate in a request process according to one embodiment of thepresent invention, a user may select one or more restaurants, at step910. The user may input dining parameters, at step 920. Diningparameters may include the date of the dining experience, the time theuser wishes to dine, the number of people in the party, how manychildren and/or adults, and other information. The user may also enterthe minimum amount of money the user wishes to spend at each selectedrestaurant. The minimum amount may vary for each restaurant. Forexample, if the user selected three restaurants at step 910, the usermay submit a bid of $30 at one restaurant and $80 at another moreexpensive restaurant.

At step 930, each incentive request may then be processed. Factorsand/or rules, which may be specified by participating restaurants, maybe used to determine whether to accept or reject the incentive request,in step 940. Processing an incentive request may involve determining anacceptance or rejection, calculating an incentive, and performing otheroperations.

User entered variables, internally tracked variables, and other factorsand information may be used to process each incentive request. Userentered variables may include information such as the anticipated diningtime and date, the number of children, and other information entered bythe user. Profile information entered by the user during registrationmay also be used to process the incentive requests. Internal variablesmay include information maintained by the restaurant regarding theuser's dining habits. Internal variables may include new customerstatus, dining frequency, beverage choice, past dining feedback,competitive set and other internal variables. Other factors andinformation may also be used to process incentive requests.

Restaurants may determine whether to accept or reject a user's requeston an individual basis. In addition, if a request is accepted, eachrestaurant may determine an incentive in response to a user's request onan individual basis.

Also, restaurants may submit customized rules to the processing systemof the present invention where these customized rules are applied toeach incentive request. These customized rules determine whether toaccept or reject each incentive request. If a request is accepted, therules may be used to determine an incentive. An incentive may include adiscount amount, discount percentage or other incentive. For example,the restaurant may want to offer higher discounts when a potentialcustomer indicates an off-peak dining time. In this example, therestaurant may offer a 35% discount for any diner who specifies a diningtime before 5:00 pm and after 3:00 pm, on a Sunday or a weeknight. Otherrules, factors or variables may also be specified by the restaurant.This eliminates the need to individually reject, accept, and calculatethe price for each request made by each user. By implementing restaurantdefined rules, restaurants may target a specific audience or type ofcustomer.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, automatedlinks to databases of multi-unit restaurants may further enhance theoffer generation process through the application of proprietaryalgorithms. Multi-unit operators routinely poll point-of-sale systems ateach restaurant location, and then aggregate key financial andperformance data for reporting and forecasting purposes. Restaurants mayutilize the latest location-specific sales trend data, hourly salesdata, and other forms of information to generate an offer. For example,many restaurants operate in chains where affiliate restaurants aresituated in various locations to cater to patrons of differentlocations. For each affiliate restaurant in a specific location, theremay be sales trends specific to that location. Multi-unit operators mayutilize these sales data and other information to provide incentives tousers who request an incentive for a particular restaurant. For example,a user may request an incentive for Joe's Bistro in the downtownlocation. However, the downtown location may be busy for the nightrequested whereas the Joe's Bistro located slightly further away fromthe city has more tables available. Based on this data and otherinformation, Joe's Bistro may offer the user a greater, more attractiveincentive to dine at the less busy location.

At step 950, the one or more offers and applicable incentives may bedisplayed to the user. The user may then select the desired restaurantand incentive at step 960. At step 970, the user may guarantee thesavings with a registered credit/debit card or other mode of securingpayment. If a credit/debit card is not registered, the user may registera credit/debit card or other mode of securing payment at this step. Theuser may then proceed to fulfill the accepted offer, at step 980.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a flowchart illustrating a fulfillment processaccording to an embodiment of the invention. Once a user has selected anoffer and secured the offer with a registered credit/debit card or othermode of securing payment, as discussed in FIG. 9, the user may dine atthe selected restaurant at step 1010. At step 1020, the user may thenpay the bill with the registered credit/debit card or other mode ofsecuring payment. According to one method, the incentive information maybe stored with or accessible by a payment processing system associatedwith the restaurant. When the user supplies the payment information atthe restaurant to pay the bill, the incentive is automatically retrieveddue to the association with the payment information. At step 1030, theregistered credit/debit card or other mode of securing payment may thenbe credited with the guaranteed incentive or savings. At step 1040, thecustomer receives an email or other correspondence confirming theincentive or savings. In addition, information may also be solicited,such as feedback regarding the restaurant and dining experience, at step1050. The system may present services, advertisements, and othertargeted information to the customer. For example, if the customerindicated that he or she had an unpleasant experience at a particularrestaurant, that restaurant may offer a coupon/voucher for a discount orother incentive so that the customer may give the restaurant anothertry. At step 1060, a fee is paid to the web-site operator and thebalance is paid to the restaurant.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, restaurantsand other entities may track items purchased via the credit/debitredemption process. This capability may be used to enhance user profilesfor offer generation. Item specific promotions may also be available tousers. These promotions may be funded by the restaurant, or directly bymanufacturers or food and beverage suppliers. For example, a user mayorder a specific bottle of red wine with his or her meal. By fulfillingthe incentive with a registered credit/debit card, the restaurant orother entity may keep track of items purchased, such as the particularbottle of red wine. This information may be used to offer an incentive(e.g., 10% discount) for the same bottle of red wine. Also, a competitormay offer a generous discount to the user to try a similar red wine ofthe competitor's brand.

The present invention may also offer a reward system in the form ofreward points with a cash value (e.g., 1 banana point=$1). The systemmay reward points to users who perform certain activities. Activitiesmay include filling out a survey, writing customer reviews, receiving anopt-in email or performing other activities. These reward points may beused when accepting an offer at a restaurant. For example, when a useraccepts an offer to dine at a particular restaurant which will give theuser a 30% off discount provided the user spends $40, the user also hasthe option to redeem the reward points (e.g., banana points) and usethem towards the meal. Thus, the user receives a charge for the dinner,a credit back from the incentive, and a credit back from the rewardpoints.

The fulfillment process may be implemented through a third party, suchas a credit card company or other processing system.

FIG. 11 illustrates an overview of another embodiment of the presentinvention. Restaurants 1110 and other service or product providers maydesire to reduce excess capacity during off peak times (e.g., hours,months, seasons, etc.). Processing system 1120 may provide yieldmanagement through yield management module 1122, information throughinfomediary module 1124, and other services and products, through othermodules 1126. Processing system 1120 may provide incremental revenuedata, customer data, and other services, products, and information toparticipating restaurants 1110 and other service or product providers.For example, by providing customers with an incentive to dine atrestaurants, incremental profits are realized with minimal costs andefforts by the restaurant. Restaurants may reduce excess capacity duringoff-peak hours by providing incentives to users to dine during thosehours. Restaurants may also acquire new guests, gain customerinformation, preserve price and brand integrity, and other benefits.Users receive benefits as well. For example, users may receive savingson their dining experiences, customer reviews as well as other benefitsand services.

Yield management module 1122 may provide reverse auctions, customizedpricing, dynamic pricing and other services. Infomediary module 1124 mayprovide customer profiles, email marketing, loyalty programs, customerfeedback and other services.

Users 1170 may access processing system 1120 through portals 1130, suchas web-based search engines and other Internet services; directories1140; wireless devices 1150, such as cellular phones and personaldigital assistants (PDAs); and dining sites 1160, such as reservationservices, restaurant guides. Other modes of accessing processing system1120 may also be implemented.

FIG. 12 is an example of flowchart 1200 illustrating an incentivegenerator according to an embodiment of the present invention. At step1210, a restaurant may determine a maximum discount for a selected dayor other time frame based on restaurant preferences and other factors.At step 1212, a user's profile or other user entered information may becompared to restaurant target factors. At step 1214, a base discountpercentage may be calculated. At step 1216, a restaurant or other entitymay define competitors and adjust the base discount percentage based onuser history, current user purchases, and other data. At step 1218, arestaurant or other entity may determine a minimum spend amount. At step1220, for each restaurant, an offer may be presented to the user wherethe restaurant may specify a discount percentage, a minimum spendamount, and other information. The user may accept an offer from arestaurant or other entity, at step 1222 and proceed to a credit cardguarantee process, at step 1224. The user may decide to enter one ormore alternative minimum spend amounts, at step 1226. A restaurant maythen adjust the percentage in response to the user's alternative minimumspend amount, at step 1228. Each restaurant may then present offers tothe user based on the alternate minimum spend amount, at step 1220.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a process for determining a maximumdiscount available according to an embodiment of the present invention.A restaurant or other entity may submit a maximum discount in the formof a percentage or other measurement. In this example, a restaurant hasselected a maximum discount of 35.0% off a dining bill, i.e., themaximum discount the restaurant is willing to offer to a user. Therestaurant may vary the maximum discount by submitting a multiplier fora selected date, or other time frame. The multiplier may be selecteddaily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or other length of time. This factorenables the restaurant to alter the maximum amount of discount availableto users as needed. In this example, a restaurant has increased themaximum discount by about 15% by indicating a multiplier of 115% fortime periods where restaurant capacity is low. A restaurant may alsolower the maximum discount by providing a multiplier of less than 100%for time periods when the restaurant is normally busy. An adjustedmaximum discount for a selected time frame may be calculated bymultiplying the restaurant defined maximum discount and a restaurantdefined multiplier. For example, an adjusted maximum discount of 40.3%reflects an increase set by the restaurant defined by a multiplier of115%.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a process for matching a consumerprofile to restaurant target factors. A restaurant may assign a rank forvarious factors to determine an optimal discount amount for a particularuser based on user information and preferences. For example, factors mayinclude customer status (e.g., a new customer), cuisine type, diningfrequency, internal tracking factors, marital status, age, householdincome, education, party size, alcoholic beverages, and other factorsthat may be of interest to the restaurant in determining an optimalincentive amount. A restaurant may rank the importance of variousfactors by assigning a numerical value to each factor. For example, arestaurant may rank factors by assigning a value of 5 for highimportance, 4 for moderately high importance, 3 for some importance, 2for little importance, and 1 for low importance. In this example, therestaurant may consider new customer status as an important factor byassigning this factor a value of 5 (for high importance). Other methodsof assigning importance to factors may also be used.

Customer information and preferences may be used to assign values toeach factor. As shown in FIG. 14, customer information may be used toassign a “yes” or “no” answer for each factor. In this example, ananswer of “yes” receives one point while an answer of “no” receives zeropoints. Other point assignments may also be used. For example, customerprofile information, which may include demographic information,historical information, and other user input information may be used toassign values to these factors.

The points earned for each factor may be determined by multiplying therestaurant rank and the customer assigned value. For example, arestaurant may want to target users who dine at dining establishments ona frequent basis, e.g., 4 or more times a week, by assigning a high rankto this factor, e.g., 5. Based on the user's profile and historicalinformation, it may be determined that a user dines out about once ortwice a week so that a dining frequency factor of 4 or more times a weekmay receive a “no” answer from the customer, i.e., a zero value.Therefore, the points earned for this factor may be valued at zero(restaurant assigned rank (e.g., 5) multiplied by customer determinedvalue (e.g., 0)).

A highest possible score may be determined by summing the restaurantranks for all factors. An actual customer score may be determined bysumming the points earned for all factors. FIG. 15 illustrates anexample of a process for determining a base discount percentageaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. A percentage ofmaximum discount earned may be calculated by dividing an actual consumerscore by a highest possible score. In this example, an actual customerscore of 29 may be divided by a highest possible score of 40 to yield amaximum discount earned percentage of 72.5%. Next, the adjusted maximumdiscount calculated in FIG. 13 may be applied to the percent of maximumdiscount earned to obtain a base discount percent. For example, a basediscount percent may be calculated by multiplying the adjusted maximumdiscount of 40.3% and the percent of maximum discount earned of 72.5%.In this example, the base discount percent is determined to be 29.2%.This value is the amount of discount a restaurant has calculated as anoptimal amount based on restaurant ranked factors and customer assignedvalues for each factor.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a process for defining competitors andadjusting the base discount percentage based on user history, currentuser selections and requests, and other data according to anotherexample of the present invention. A restaurant may identify one or morecompetitors and provide an extra discount incentive if a user haspreviously or currently purchased or requested incentives associatedwith one or more competitors. An extra discount incentive may also beprovided when a user identifies one or more competitors as a preference,dines at an establishment associated with one or more identifiedcompetitors, or performs other transactions associated with competitors.For example, a Mexican restaurant located in Santa Monica may identifythree other Tex Mex restaurants within the same area as competitors. TheMexican restaurant may assign a higher extra discount percentage to afierce competitor and a lower percentage to a different competitor ifthe user has previously or currently purchased or requested incentivesfrom one or more competitors, for example. A restaurant may offer adifferent percentage if a user has identified a competitor in a currentshopping cart. For example, if a user has purchased an incentive orparticipated in an auction associated with an identified competitors,the restaurant may be willing to offer a different incentive, e.g., ahigher incentive for a current purchase related to an identifiedcompetitor. In another example, if a user has purchased an incentivefrom a competitor for a different day (for example) during the currentshopping experience, the restaurant may assign a different discount. Inanother example, a competitor restaurant may be one of the restaurantsthat is in current competition for the user's selection. If Competitor#3 is present in the user's history and Competitor #1 is present in acurrent shopping cart, then the discount percentage may be adjusted byadding 3.0% and 6.0% to the base discount percent of 29.2% to yield anadjusted discount percent of 38%. This enables a restaurant to competewith other restaurants by offering a more attractive incentive to auser. The user also benefits by receiving higher discounts fromcompeting restaurants.

FIG. 17 is an example of a process for determining a minimum spendamount according to another embodiment of the present invention. Arestaurant may define a minimum spend amount by evaluating the partycomposition, time of attendance and other specifics. For example, a usermay identify a party of two adults and two children. The restaurant maydetermine that an adult may spend an average of $10.25 for a meal duringthe evening and a child may spend an average of $4.75 for a meal duringthe evening. By calculating the average amount a party of two adults andtwo children may spend, a minimum spend amount may be determined. Theaverage amount may be determined by historical data, time and dayspecifics, and other factors. To generate a more attractive incentive, arestaurant may offer a lower minimum spend amount. If customers who dineat a particular restaurant normally drink wine (or other alcoholicbeverage) with their meals, a higher minimum spend amount may beoffered.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of a process for presenting offers to auser according to an embodiment of the present invention. For eachrestaurant selected by the user, the restaurant name, a dining date andincentive may be presented to the user. For example, a restaurant mayoffer “38% off on a purchase of $30 or more.”

A user may then select an offer and proceed to an incentive guaranteeprocess via credit card or other mode of payment. Another optionavailable to the user is the option to enter one or more alternativeminimum spend amounts and request a new offer. FIG. 19 illustrates anexample of a step for adjusting a minimum spend amount according to anembodiment of the present invention. After receiving the offers, theuser may have made changes to his or her dining plan or the user may notbe satisfied with the offers he or she received in response to therequest for incentives. For example, a user may submit an alternateminimum spend amount of $25.00 where the percentage difference from theoriginal amount of $30.00 is 83%. A percentage of 100% may then besubtracted from 83% to obtain a percent change of −17%, in this example.A restaurant may specify a multiplier for when a user submits analternate minimum spend amount that is lower/higher than the originalspend amount. In this example, a restaurant has specified a “below”multiplier of 1.50 for when the alternate minimum spend amount is lowerthan the original spend amount. In another example, a restaurant maydefine a multiplier to adjust offers for requested spend amounts thatare greater than the original spend amount.

According to this example, the below multiplier may be multiplied by thepercent change to result in an adjusted percent change of −25%. 100% maybe added to the adjusted percent change for an adjustment factor of 75%.Next, an adjustment of offer discount may be calculated by adjusting theoriginal offer discount percent by the adjustment factor. In thisexample, the original offer discount percent of 38% is adjusted by theadjustment factor of 75% for a new offer discount percent of 29%.Therefore, a restaurant may offer an optimal adjusted discountpercentage when a user enters an adjusted minimum amount. These offersmay then be presented to the user where the user may accept the offer.In another example, the user may submit another alternate minimum spendamount until the user is presented with an offer that is acceptable.

Other embodiments and uses of the invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practiceof the invention disclosed herein. The specification and examples shouldbe considered exemplary only.

1. A computer-implemented system for reducing excess capacity for one ormore restaurants that experience periods of peak demands and periods ofnon-peak demands and for collecting information about at least one user,the system comprising: a server configured to execute computer programmodules corresponding to a website, the computer program modulescomprising: a registration module configured to obtain information aboutusers via the website, and to register the users to user accounts on thewebsite; a request module configured to present an interface to a uservia the website through which user requests are received for incentivesfor dining at restaurants corresponding to one or more user selectedrestaurant characteristics; an incentive module configured toconcomitantly present to a user via the website, in response to receiptof a user request for incentives through the interface, a plurality ofincentives for dining at any of a set of two or more restaurants thatcorrespond to the one or more user selected restaurant characteristicsincluded in the received user request for incentives, wherein theincentives are subject to restrictions, wherein the incentive module isconfigured to provide the incentives with restrictions specifying validdates and/or times that correspond to non-peak demand periods of therestaurants associated with the incentives to incentivize dining at therestaurants during non-peak demand, and wherein the incentive module isconfigured such that responsive to a first restaurant of the set ofrestaurants having a different non-peak demand period than a secondrestaurant of the set of restaurants the incentive module concomitantlypresents to the user via the website a first incentive associated withthe first restaurant that is subject to different restrictions than asecond incentive associated with the second restaurant; and a storingmodule configured to manage storage of the information obtained by theregistration module about the users.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe incentive module is configured to set the restrictions on theincentives based on business rules received at the web site fromrestaurants in the set of restaurants.
 3. The system of claim 1, whereinthe computer modules further comprise a redemption module configured toobtain an indication from one of the restaurants in the set ofrestaurants indicating whether the user has dined in accordance with oneof the presented incentives, the redemption module being furtherconfigured to credit the incentive to the user account associated withthe user in response to obtaining the indication.
 4. The system of claim3, wherein the incentive is downloaded by the at least one registereduser from a web-site.
 5. The system of claim 3, wherein the incentive issent to the at least one registered user via electronic mail.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1 further comprising a restaurant on-line reservationmodule that enables the at least one registered user to make areservation at a corresponding one of the one or more restaurants. 7.The system of claim 1, wherein the set of restaurants includes arestaurant having a plurality of different locations, and the incentivesinclude a plurality of incentives corresponding to different locationsof the same restaurant.
 8. A computer-implemented system for reducingexcess capacity for one or more businesses in an industry thatexperiences periods of peak demands and periods of non-peak demands andfor collecting information about at least one user, the systemcomprising: a server configured to execute computer program modulescorresponding to a website, said computer program modules comprising: aregistration module configured to obtain information about users via thewebsite, and to register the users to user accounts on the website; arequest module configured to present an interface to a user via thewebsite through which user requests are received for incentives topurchase a service from businesses corresponding to one or more userselected business characteristics; an incentive module configured toconcomitantly present to a user via the website, responsive to a userrequest for incentives received through the interface, a plurality ofincentives to purchase a service from a set of two or more businessesthat correspond to the one or more user selected businesscharacteristics included in the received user request for incentives,wherein the incentives are subject to restrictions, wherein theincentive module is configured to provide the incentives withrestrictions specifying valid dates and/or times that correspond tonon-peak demand periods of the businesses associated with the incentivesto incentivize purchasing the service at the businesses during non-peakdemand, and wherein the incentive module is configured such thatresponsive to a first business of the set of businesses having adifferent non-peak demand period than a second business of the set ofbusinesses the incentive module concomitantly presents to the user viathe website a first incentive associated with the first business that issubject to different restrictions than a second incentive associatedwith the second business; and a storing module configured to managestorage of the information obtained by the registration module about theusers.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more businesses arefood service establishments.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the setof businesses includes a business having a plurality of differentlocations, and the incentives include a plurality of incentivescorresponding to different locations.
 11. A computer-implemented methodof reducing excess capacity for one or more businesses in an industrythat experience periods of peak demands and periods of non-peak demandsand for collecting information about at least one user, wherein themethod is implemented in a server configured to execute one or morecomputer program modules corresponding to a website, the methodcomprising: executing, on the server, one or more computer programmodules configured to register users based on registration informationreceived from the user; storing information about the users, includingregistration information, to a database accessible to the server;executing, on the server, one or more computer program modulesconfigured to present an interface to a user via the website throughwhich a user request is received for incentives to purchase a servicefrom businesses corresponding to one or more user selected businesscharacteristics; executing, on the server, one or more computer programmodules configured to concomitantly present to the user via the website,in response to the received user request for incentives, incentives topurchase a service at individual ones of a set of two or more businessesthat correspond to the one or more user selected businesscharacteristics, wherein the incentives are subject to restrictions,wherein the restrictions of the incentives specify valid dates and/ortimes that correspond to non-peak demand periods of the businessesassociated with the incentives to incentivize purchasing the service atthe businesses during non-peak demand, and wherein responsive to a firstbusiness of the set of businesses having a different non-peak demandperiod than a second business of the set of businesses a first incentiveassociated with the first business is presented at the websiteconcomitantly with a second incentive associated with the secondbusiness such that the first incentive is subject to differentrestrictions than the second incentive.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the one or more businesses are food service establishments. 13.The method of claim 11, wherein the set of businesses includes abusiness having a plurality of different locations, and the incentivesinclude a plurality of incentives corresponding to different locations.14. A computer-implemented method of reducing excess capacity for one ormore restaurants that experience periods of peak demands and periods ofnon-peak demands and for collecting information about at least one user,wherein the method is implemented in a server configured to execute oneor more computer program modules corresponding to a website, the methodcomprising: executing, on the server, one or more computer programmodules configured to register users based on registration informationreceived from the users; storing information about the users, includingregistration information, to a database accessible to the server;executing, on the server, one or more computer program modulesconfigured to present an interface to a user via the website throughwhich a user request is received for incentives for dining atrestaurants corresponding to one or more user selected restaurantcharacteristics; executing, on the server, one or more computer programmodules configured to concomitantly present to a user via the website,in response to the received user request for incentives, incentives fordining at individual ones of a set of two or more restaurants thatcorrespond to the one or more user selected restaurant characteristics,wherein the incentives are subject to restrictions, wherein therestrictions of the incentives specify valid dates and/or times thatcorrespond to non-peak demand periods of the restaurants associated withthe incentives to incentivize dining at the restaurants during non-peakdemand, and wherein responsive to a first restaurant of the set ofrestaurants having a different non-peak demand period than a secondrestaurant of the set of restaurants a first incentive associated withthe first restaurant is presented on the website concomitantly with asecond incentive associated with the second restaurant such that thefirst incentive is subject to different restrictions than the secondincentive.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the received user requestfor incentives includes one or more user specified dining parameters,and wherein the method further comprises: executing, on the server, oneor more computer program modules configured to determine whether theuser should receive any incentives to dine at any of the restaurants inthe specified set of restaurants, the determination being made based onthe one or more user specified dining parameters and business rulesassociated with individual ones of the restaurants in the specified setof restaurants; and executing, on the server, one or more computerprogram modules configured to transmit, responsive to a determinationthat the user should receive one or more incentives to dine atrestaurants in the specified set of restaurants, a response to the uservia the website presenting the appropriate one or more incentives todine at the restaurants in the specified set of restaurants.
 16. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the method is conducted by a web-site. 17.The method of claim 14 further comprising: executing, on the server, oneor more computer program modules configured to obtain an indication fromone of the plurality of restaurants if the user has dined in accordancewith one of the presented incentives; and wherein the incentive iscredited to the user responsive to the user dining in accordance withone of the presented incentives.
 18. The method of claim 17, whereinenabling the at least one registered user to redeem the incentive at thecorresponding one of the one or more restaurants to obtain the discountoff the purchase further includes: registering an account correspondingto the at least one registered user in a restaurant payment processingsystem associated with the corresponding one of the one or morerestaurants; and crediting an amount for the incentive to the registeredaccount at a time of payment for the purchase.
 19. The method of claim17, wherein the incentive is downloaded by the at least one registereduser from a web-site.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the incentiveis sent to the at least one registered user via electronic mail.
 21. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the set of restaurants includes a restauranthaving a plurality of different locations, and the incentives include aplurality of incentives corresponding to different locations of the samerestaurant.
 22. A computer-implemented system including a websiteconfigured to facilitate reduction of excess capacity at two or morerestaurants by offering incentives to dine during non-peak demandperiods, where individual restaurants are associated with differentperiods of peak demands and different periods of non-peak demands, toenable users to search for restaurants at which to dine: i) via arestaurant guide module based on one or more user specified restaurantcharacteristics; or ii) via an incentive request module based on a userinitiated request for incentives to dine at two or more restaurants andto display, responsive to the request, the restaurants for which anincentive to dine is available based on the request, and to enable auser to make a reservation at a user selected restaurant, via arestaurant reservation module of the website, based on a restaurantidentified via the restaurant guide module or the incentive requestmodule, the system comprising: a server configured to execute computerprogram modules corresponding to the website, the computer programmodules comprising: the restaurant guide module including: i) arestaurant search module configured to search for restaurants based on:a) one or more user specified restaurant characteristics, includingrestaurant name, location or cuisine type; and/or b) a user selection ofa category from a displayed list of categories of restaurantcharacteristics; and ii) a display module configured to present acorresponding list of restaurants having the user specified restaurantcharacteristics or that are within the user selected category, and toreceive input corresponding to a user selected restaurant from thepresented list of restaurants; the incentive request module configuredto receive user input corresponding to a user initiated request forincentives to dine at two or more restaurants to identify potentialrestaurants at which dining is incentivized for the user dine, whereinincentives to dine, for a given restaurant, are subject to restrictionsincluding being valid during a predetermined period corresponding to anon-peak demand period for the given restaurant, wherein the incentiverequest module includes: i) a dining parameters module configured toreceive user-specified dining parameters; and ii) an incentive displaymodule configured to : a) determine incentives available to the user atthe two or more restaurants on a per restaurant basis, based on the userinput; b) display the incentives determined to be available to the useron a per restaurant basis; and c) receive user input corresponding to auser selected restaurant for which an incentive is available to theuser; and the restaurant reservation module configured to receive userinput to make a reservation to dine, via the website, at the restaurantselected by the user via either the restaurant guide module or theincentive request module.